The New England Patriots go into Week 15 with the express goal of beating the Arizona Cardinals at home. But if we're honest, there's gotta be a part of the franchise that won't be heartbroken if they lose.

The Patriots were eliminated from the playoff race long ago, but are right in the middle of the race for the No. 1 pick in next spring's draft.

Getting the No. 1 pick would put the Patriots in the driver seat for the 2025 draft. They already have their quarterback in Drake Maye. They would then have the ability to either add a playmaker like Travis Hunter or sell the top pick to the highest bidder to bring in a wealth of draft capital.

Either way, the benefit of landing that top pick is greater than beating the Cardinals on an arbitrary late-season Sunday in a non-competitive year.

As it stands, the Patriots are in line to pick third. According to Tankathon, the Patriots hold the tie-breaker for strength of schedule over just about everyone, but they have two 2-11 teams ahead of them.

Here's a look at three results the Patriots should be rooting for this weekend to optimize their odds at the top pick.

Giants over Ravens

We'll get started with the most unlikely result the Patriots would like to see. The 2-11 New York Giants will play host to the 8-5 Baltimore Ravens as the team with the second overall pick heading into the weekend.

The Giants started off the season 2-3, but haven't been competitive since then. They have lost eight consecutive games and released quarterback Daniel Jones, giving Tommy DeVito and Drew Lock the opportunity to start games.

The team has played better since handing the reins over to Lock. He has started the last two contests and they lost each of them by one score. The quarterback has led the team in rushing both weeks and helped them have a chance to win.

Unfortunately, that's still two losses to the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints. Both are flirting with landing a top 10 pick and the Cowboys were starting Dak Prescott.

Lamar Jackson is bad news for the Giants defense. The Ravens are 8-5 so there isn't much MVP hype for the quarterback, but he does have a higher passer rating and QBR than he did during his MVP campaign last season.

If there's hope for the Giants pulling off an upset it lies in the fact that the Ravens have lost two of their last three games. Perhaps the Giants can catch them trying to coast to a win and get something going against a much better team.

Panthers over Cowboys

According to ESPN's projected draft order, the Raiders even the second-biggest threat the Patriots have to worry about. They already have a one-game advantage, but it's the Carolina Panthers who are more likely to pick ahead of New England.

The Pats and Panthers both enter this weekend with 3-10 records, but the Patriots strength of schedule (or lack thereof) gives them an advantage.

Still, it's a close call with the Panthers. A win for Carolina combined with a Patriots loss would create some separation from the NFC South squad.

A Panthers win isn't out of the question either. This is a Cowboys team that will be starting Cooper Rush. Dallas is 2-3 with Rush as the starter. One of those wins came against the Giants.

Dallas already has five wins on the season. It would take a surprising finish from the Patriots to tie them in the draft order.

The Panthers three-game losing streak is a bit deceptive. All three losses were by one score against the Chiefs, Buccaneers and Eagles. Bryce Young has been playing much better and could very well be auditioning to be the starter next year.

That could be enough to score the win and help the Patriots out.

Raiders over Falcons

The Giants might not have a strong chance, but the 2-11 Raiders at least have a little bit more hope. The Silver and Black would have the first overall pick if the season were to end today.

However, a Patriots loss and Raiders win would hand New England the top pick.

The Raiders' season is a near doppelganger for the Giants. They also started off with two wins in the first five weeks of the season before everything went off the rails.

They've lost nine consecutive games and have turned things over to Aidan O'Connell as the quarterback. It looked like he might be the catalyst they needed to have some production on offense, but he followed up his 340-yard performance against the Kansas City Chiefs with just 104 yards and a knee injury that forced Desmond Ridder into the game.

O'Connell's injury has impacted his availability at practice, but he's listed as questionable for the game this week. If he can't go, Ridder could get a revenge spot against his former team on Monday Night Football.

The Falcons are in the middle of a playoff race in the NFC South, but they are also on a four-game losing streak with Kirk Cousins in a slump.

Stay tuned on this one. It could wind up breaking the Patriots' way.